The Unseemly Side of Hubbard Park

 

The morning fog greatly reduced visibility. You might say it made things "un-see(m)-able".

Visit #1588, Saturday 7 March 26, 6:00-7:15AM, 2.2 miles, 18.8 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30s rising to the 40s, cloudy, foggy, intermittent drizzle.

A quick assessment of trail conditions when I arrived at the park made me conclude it would be a slow slushy slog. I started walking on the road toward the trails and within seconds spied some litter and decided my time today would be better spent picking up trash within the park instead. With all the snow this year litter was virtually non-existent on the trails and other trail maintenance could surely wait a week or two.

So what triggered my change of plans?

I found more than one condom today.

I canvassed all the roads within the park. I wonder whether my findings were an accumulation throughout the winter revealed with the melting snow, or recent.

That's just a sample. I found DOZENS of nip bottles, with other alcoholic containers a close second. Food containers vied for top spot as well.

One unique find was on Notch Road adjacent to the bandshell.

A car went on a quick weight reduction program. It appears it spontaneously left the roadway, ran over some rock curbing, and...

I wonder whether the diversion was caused by snow or any of the substances I found in the park.

Best I could do with my hands being full is relocate the car parts to the skate house to hopefully be found and collected by the parks department. I must say the renovations to the skate house are stylish and impressive.

In total I collected two bags of litter but forgot to photograph the second bag.

Forecasts call for rising temperatures all week. With a little luck that will make the trails a little more accessible.

Turning Off The Water

 If hiking isn't your thing, here's an alternative form of exercise.

Visit #1587, Saturday 28 February 26, 8:45-11:15AM, 4.3 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30s, rising to near 50, sunny.

With the higher temps and bright sun, the deep snow won't be here for long so I took my snowshoes out for perhaps a last romp on the trails.

First, my sticker collection for the week.

Just one week ago, I peeled off stickers from this spot. This week were two replacements.

And this I found on the trip back to the park.

I walked around Merimere Reservoir and put on my snowshoes when I picked up the Blue Trail at the north end. I planned on following it all the way to Castle Craig but got sidetracked when a long dormant thought popped into my head: I always wanted to follow all the way to its origin one of the brooks that feed the reservoir. I figured there's got to be a spigot at the source that I can shut off 😀.

Thus began a long, difficult journey through untrampled woods, harder than any trail in Hubbard Park.

Fallen trees, boulders, steep walls; it was quite the workout. And due to the warm weather I was shedding layers, including my hat and I'm almost NEVER without a hat.

I had only a vague idea where I might end up when I reached the top, but I could tell when I was near because I instantly felt a cold breeze across my cue ball head. Time to put the hat back on.

I never did find that spigot.

Snow was piled so high from the snowplow that I snowshoed along the top of the guardrail on the way back down.

I spied that word "Mondo" on the guardrail bumper. Whenever I hear or see that word I'm reminded of the song, "Mondo Bondage" by The Tubes. They were quite the live act in their day with one of their hit songs being "White Punks On Dope. Searching for an ahem, suitable for all audiences video of Mondo Bondage, I came up short, VERY SHORT. Search youtube if you dare. I'll leave you with audio, and your imagination.

You may need some exercise to clear your mind after that. A good snowshoe hike in Hubbard Park is the prescription.

Get Lost!

 

I suppose you could get lost in Hubbard Park if you're unfamiliar with the trails and it's dark.

Visit #1586, Saturday 21 February 26, 7:20-9:40AM, 4.3 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps climbing above freezing, reaching the low 40s, cloudy in advance of a nor'easter to arrive Sunday afternoon.

A couple hikers got lost at Ragged Mountain in Southington last week and had to be rescued.

A rescue required the first responders to have knowledge of the trail network, and that requires training. I wonder how familiar Meriden's first responders are with the trails in Hubbard Park?

Today's hike would lead me to another seldom used trail like last week, and trail conditions necessitated using BOTH crampons and snowshoes.

At the south end of Merimere Reservoir I met a frequent visitor to Hubbard Park who previously told me of a beaver lodge built on Merimere Reservoir. Today he pointed out to me where it was located.

It's on the south shore of Mine Island. No fezzes or secret handshakes; beavers just build lodges.

As temps crossed up over the freezing level, crackling and "raindrops" could be heard and felt. A passing runner even asked me if it was beginning to rain. I assured her it was not.

Things were just beginning to thaw.

I switched from crampons to snowshoes and began the trail descent. Along the way I spotted a balloon trapped in a dead tree. There are several fallen trees partial buried in snow on this trail. After the spring thaw I will remove them and retrieve the balloon.

At the end of the trail I walked the road around the reservoir and back to the park. Along the way I came upon and removed a couple stickers and a number of refrigerator magnets.

While I removed everything, I got especially excited about the magnets because I've got nothing better to do than add them to my refrigerator.

Alas, the magnets succumbed to the cold weather and were not redeemable.

Please don't go for a hike in the coming nor'easter and get lost, happy endings like the one linked to above aren't guaranteed.

Trampled Under Foot

 

Footprints from some intrepid people who crossed Merimere Reservoir.

Visit #1585, 15 February 26, 7:10-9:20AM, 4.8 miles, 1.0 lbs. of litter. Temps in the upper 20s, mostly sunny.

The trails are still only under foot of the hardier hiker, or those equipped properly, and the paths they make are narrow, mostly following the footprints of those preceding them.

I'm reminded of the Led Zeppelin song, Trampled Under Foot. Few people know Zep's inspiration came from bluesman Robert Johnson and his song, Terraplane Blues. And why was it called Terraplane Blues you ask? Here's an explanation:

"Johnson used the car model Terraplane as a metaphor for sex. In the lyrical narrative, the car will not start and Johnson suspects that his girlfriend let another man drive it when he was gone. In describing the various mechanical problems with his Terraplane, Johnson creates a setting of thinly veiled sexual innuendo.

And here's the original recording.

Compare that to Led Zeppelin's interpretation. Lyrically they offer a similar message; musically, not so.

My idea of trampling today would be on snowshoes.

I hiked over I-691 and picked up the Blue Trail to West Peak. Along the way I found and removed another of the seemingly endless appearance of little foam stickers. Here it is in mid-removal.

Higher up the Blue Trail near West Peak I temporarily followed a trail of blood probably from some animal carrying their lunch.

I skipped stopping at West Peak and cut through the woods straight to a trail leading down toward the reservoir. Here I was trampling virgin snow all the way.

Back on asphalt, I walked the road around the reservoir to the park. A the south end of the reservoir I spotted that someone decided to trample on Hubbard Park, Merimere Reservoir, and the environment by tossing a couple bottles of Korean alcohol known as "soju" onto the ice. It has an alcohol content similar to wine. I treaded carefully onto the ice and retrieved them.

I Half-Chickened Out

 My tools of the trade Saturday.

Visit #1584, Saturday 7 February 26, 9:20-11:05AM, 5.0 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the single digits to low teens, overnight snow accumulating 2-3", ending midday. Cloudy with windchills putting temps around zero degrees.

I had a crazy idea; I was going to walk across Merimere Reservoir, south to north, on the ice.

At the same time, I received an e-mail from Mark, who rides his bike up to Castle Craig once a month year 'round as a celebration of life and longevity. Mark wanted to know the road conditions to the tower.

So after crossing Merimere Reservoir I would walk the road so I could provide him with a report.

Things went off the rails both during and after my hike.

About halfway across the reservoir, my pole hit slush beneath the snow; a good enough warning for me to abort my plan. Since I couldn't see where more solid ice was, I beelined for land.

Just past Echo Point, I found Season of the Missing Glove 2025/26 Entry #14.

Found as you see it, inside the glove was the frequently found in Hubbard Park religious tract. Go figure.

Even at 10AM under these snowy conditions, I wasn't the first one on the road. Another set of foot and pole prints preceded mine.

The very high winds and windchill diminished once in the shelter of the tree lined road.

The last steep pitch to Castle Craig was definitely not rideable by bike, but neither was the rest of the road.

After my hike, and e-mailing the road conditions to Mark, I got suspicious as he lives near enough to Meriden to know the weather wouldn't be conducive to bike riding. I discovered his original e-mail was not from his e-mail account but from a fraudulent e-mail account. Ooops.

(Update: Mark contacted me to confirm the suspect fraudulent e-mail was legitimate. Nothing to see here...) 

I followed the trails down, over the highway, and back to an almost empty Hubbard Park.

While dropping a piece of trash I found into the trash bin, I discovered a pair of snowshoes.

"Debbie" had written her name on both snowshoes. Sad that she abandoned them; I researched on line and found repair parts such as bindings are still available as are repair services. I guess that's just American consumer society.

And just like two weeks ago, it was so cold the water in my bottle froze.

Snow Days

 Visit #1582, Saturday 31 January 26, 12:30-2:35PM, 3.2 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 20s, sunny.

Visit #1583, Sunday 1 February 26, 1:45-3:30PM, 3.5 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 20s, sunny with a very cold windchill.

Last Sunday's 15" snowfall made the trails almost impassable  except for the hardiest of individuals.

I headed out on the trails Saturday with my chainsaw to remove the fallen tree I discovered last week.

Even with snowshoes the hike to the tree was a chore, and when I reached the site I had to remove them to maneuver around the tree as I cut.

Which I didn't finish because my chainsaw got stuck in the tree.

I spent the good part of an hour wrangling with the tree to free my saw. I was successful but out of time for the day. I would have to leave the job incomplete until Sunday, where there would be a rematch.

I have to tip my hat to pal Dave. While talking on the phone about his use of a chainsaw, I was inspired to retrofit my saw with the more aggressive cutting chain that he uses for trail maintenance. I can't say it would have prevented my bar from being pinched by the tree but it sure would speed up what work I did, considering the cold and the type of wood this dead tree was made of.

So Sunday I waited for peak temperatures and returned to do battle. This time it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

Finished, I had enough time to complete a clockwise loop of the trails and return to the park.